


The Deception of Innocence

by Bisabis



Category: Original Work
Genre: Animal Transformation, Beauty and the Beast Elements, Discussion of sexual assault, Embedded Images, F/M, Gen, Hispanic Character, Runaway, Transformation, Violence, Wicked Witch, evil stepdad, wolf - Freeform, young adult
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:54:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 17,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28374990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bisabis/pseuds/Bisabis
Summary: 16-year-old Mirangeliz Cuerva is lucky to be alive. Running from her old life, she is attacked by a wolf who seems to know her name. He takes her to a run-down mansion filled with other animals like him. As if she wasn’t in enough trouble, the owner of the house, a powerful witch, curses her to slowly turn into a skunk if she tells a lie. And if living with an abusive family taught her anything, it’s how to do just that. Can she stay human forever? Or be doomed to live as a wild animal?-I will be honest: this is not an easy read. It surely wasn’t easy to write. If you have depression like me, it might be a good idea to stay away.It’s also written under a pen name: Pyrga Torree. I have a writing Instagram Pyrga.torree if you want to see my other original works, too.Updates weekly ~Mondays.
Kudos: 4





	1. run

  


She didn’t see the wolf lunging at her until it was too late. Its eyes shone in the darkness, reflecting her flashlight in its irises. She couldn’t move. She couldn’t run. She couldn’t speak. 

It pounced, the weight making her land on her back with a thud, the wind knocked out of her. The flashlight flew from her hands, illuminating a nearby tree. Not that she could see it. She was too focused on the wild animal on top of her, wondering why it hadn’t torn out her throat yet. 

The wolf’s breath was hot, and stank of raw meat. She felt a single drop of drool on her face, which triggered her instincts to move again. She tried shoving it off of her, hitting its legs, grabbing its jaws, pushing against its chest; anything to simply breathe again, let alone escape. 

Instead, she heard a voice. 

“Why are you here?” 

She froze, her hands shaking against the beast’s fur. A boy’s voice. It was somewhere above, but she couldn’t tell where. 

“Why are you here?” The same voice yelled. She whimpered at the intensity. Struggling to catch her breath, she was still able to zero in on where it came from. 

It was coming from the wolf. 

“W-what?” she stammered. 

It snapped its jaws and growled, making her yelp. “Why. Are. You. Here?” 

She had no good answer for it. The last thing she remembered was the world going dark.

* * *

Mirangeliz Cuerva was lucky to be alive. She woke up on the forest floor, disoriented and very cold. Deciding to throw on a light jacket turned out to be the second worst choice she made last night. 

Memories of the weight on her body flooded in, along with the helplessness she felt under it, and she shivered. Her flashlight, still on and a few yards away, luckily hadn’t given her away. It was one thing to run away from home, and another thing to be discovered by the search party. The people she had been running from all night. She sat up and looked around to find she was not alone. 

The wolf was staring at her. Gray, filthy, with red-stained jaws. 

This time, she didn’t freeze. She scrambled to her flashlight and grabbed it, then faced the wolf, ready to strike if it attacked her again. 

It hadn’t moved. The only thing that changed was the position of its head and eyes, following her movements. 

“Go away!” she shouted. 

“Turn it off before the batteries run out,” the wolf said without moving its mouth. 

She screamed, throwing it anyway. She missed, and the wolf still did not move. 

The wolf pawed at it lazily, batting it aside. “Now look what you did, you broke it.” He sighed. “Was that your only light source?” 

“I brought extra!” A total lie. She only packed extra batteries. Now she had no flashlight to use them for, and too many D batteries in her bag. 

He tilted his head ever so slightly. 

“Okay I didn’t, but like, you’re talking to me!” 

“I am.”

“How!” 

He didn’t answer. 

“Is this a bad dream?” 

He chuckled. “If this were a bad dream, I’d wake up in bed any minute, in the arms of my ex-girlfriend.” 

She blinked, unsure what to say to that. “I don’t get it.” 

“I don’t either, but here we are.” It stood up and walked over to her. 

She backed up until she felt a tree. She briefly looked up and found she could easily climb it, so she did. 

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, if I wanted to eat you, I wouldn’t have protected you all night.” 

Despite what he said, she didn’t stop until she got at least ten feet off the ground. She figured wolves couldn’t jump that high. She’d be dead if they could. 

He sat again. “And you’re not even listening. Okay. Mira, get down before you hurt yourself.” 

“How did you know my name?” she shouted. “I-I’m an excellent climber, I’ll have you know!” 

“Yeah, when we were kids! But that’s a dead tree!” He snarled at her so severely that she flinched. 

“How do you know me!” The branch creaked under her foot and she clung to the trunk. Her mind raced to remember who would know her so intimately. As far as she knew, she had no one like that in years. 

The wolf growled again, pacing and muttering to himself around the tree. She couldn’t catch what he was saying, but she knew it wasn’t English. 

The longer she stayed in the tree, the more she realized it was becoming the third worst decision she made today. The bark easily tore in her hand as she shifted to a more comfortable position, the tree itself groaning under her weight. Sure, she was a few pounds overweight, but she didn’t want it to be her literal downfall. She tried not to consider how much worse it would be to climb back down and get mauled by a talking wolf. 

“Would you relax? I’m not going to eat you.” He perked his head up and looked off to what she thought was south. “They’re coming.” 

“Who?” 

“The search party from last night.” 

She bristled. 

“They seemed really angry with you.” 

She gulped a lump down. 

“Something about your stepdad.” 

She tried to control her increasingly erratic breathing, pushing down the memories from last night. 

He looked up at her. “Something tells me you don’t want them to find you.” He seemed to almost grin, his sharp teeth protruding from strong jaws. 

“I was just—!” she cried. “I didn’t mean to!” She felt tears coming and wiped her eyes roughly. 

“Then why are you hiding in a tree?” She could have sworn he snickered, but it might have been him clicking his jaw. 

She held back her answer. No matter who the wolf was, she didn’t want him to know. She didn’t want anyone to know. She would die before telling a single soul. 

The wolf sighed again, all hints of humor gone. He muttered something in his other language. French, if she had to guess. “If I said I had a place for you to hide, where no one can ever find us, would you come down?” 

She weighed her options. Be found in a dead tree, or fall out of that dead tree, both of which would end in her being taken away. She couldn’t let that happen. But was it even a good idea to go to a mysterious hiding place where a wolf knew her name? If she escaped with a talking wild animal, then she would at least delay the inevitable. 

“Okay,” she whispered. 

“Okay, then. Hurry up.” 

She climbed down as quickly as she could without hurting herself, and landed heavily next to the wolf. She nearly lost her balance, but the wolf took off as soon as she regained it. 

She ran after him, entirely unable to keep up. She was never a fast runner. Everyone made fun of her for always finishing last in PE. It was one thing being lazy and finishing last, but in her case, she actually tried, and that made it worse. Other girls just skipped if they didn’t want to try. She never had the nerve. And because of the taunting, she gave up trying. She regretted that the moment she took the first step after him. 

Somehow, she found the endurance within her, despite the backpack’s weight on her shoulders. Maybe it was the terror of being caught. Maybe it was the thought of escaping the consequences of her actions, even if the event was an accident. She heard stories of worse punishments for less. 

They only ran for a few minutes, and by the time he stopped and waited for her, she was winded and exhausted. She fell to her knees next to him, thankful after the fact she didn’t land on any rocks or twigs. 

“How much further?” she wheezed. She swallowed the newly gross saliva forming in her mouth as she caught her breath. She suddenly craved to brush her teeth. 

“We’re safe here. The barrier will close soon.” 

She blinked, looking up at him. “The what?” 

“I’ll explain later.” He huffed and sat next to her, watching the sky. 

She followed his gaze and saw something shimmering in the spiny winter canopy above them. It slowly lowered itself until it touched the ground just out of reach. Her fingers almost brushed it curiously when the wolf snapped at her. 

“I wouldn’t.” 

He got up and padded away from the shimmer. She struggled to her feet and dusted herself off, looking back one more time from where they came. Was it really safe? She had no idea. She adjusted her bag and followed the wolf. If she wasn’t allowed to touch the shimmer, or the barrier as he called it, she wondered how she could escape through it, just in case her impulsive decision to follow the giant canine went sideways. Another regret filled her as she followed him even deeper into the trees. She was lost in thought, trying not to imagine where and how they’d find her body after being violently murdered in the woods. 

“We’re here,” he said. 

She looked up to see an old mansion. She expected it to look worse, like a horror movie, but it just needed some cleaning. She noticed a dirt road leading up to it, barely visible in the overgrowth. The wolf nudged the front door’s handle open with his snout and went inside. She gulped, climbed the seven steps, doing the same. 

The inside smelled of must and mold, and she tried not to gag on it. The foyer was wide as it was tall, a single wooden staircase on the right leading to a second floor, its white paint peeling every few inches. From the outside, it looked even taller. Maybe there was a third floor or an attic. The walls were bare, suspicious squares from missing portraits evenly spaced from corner to corner. The wolf disappeared behind the staircase, revealing a wide room behind it. As she rounded the corner, a large couch littered with dozens of book stacks met her eyes. Among them sat several animals, all facing the wolf, all of them common in the state. The wolf sat in front of the old television. A boar laid down next to the wolf. An orange cat sat in front of the couch, swiping its tail back and forth over the entire cushion. An old terrier stood on three legs next to the cat. A brown rabbit laid sideways next to them, appearing to be sleeping. A colorful snake curled up in front of its stomach. A young doe stood behind them all. As soon as Mira stepped into the threshold, they all focused on her. 

“What’s the meaning of this?” The boar said as she walked in. 

“Easy,” the terrier growled at the boar. His voice was stern, but deeper than she assumed a terrier would have. 

The boar snorted. He wasn’t pleased with her appearance as far as she could tell. 

The cat clicked its tongue at her. 

The snake slowly slithered its way toward her, but stopped at the edge of the couch, resting its head on a book. 

“She can’t be here,” the doe said. She sounded scared. 

“We have time,” the wolf said. 

The doe stamped her front hooves. “You know better than that!” 

“Shut up,” the rabbit said. “I’m trying to sleep before she gets here.” 

Mira suddenly felt embarrassed. “I’m sorry,” she said with her head bowed. 

“Shit,” the cat muttered. 

“Get her out of here before it’s too late,” the doe said. 

“We. Have. Time,” the wolf insisted. 

“Do we?” The doe’s voice raised several pitches. “It’s already been a month!” 

“What?” The wolf said, tensing. 

“Impulsive twit as usual,” the boar added. 

“What did you say?” The wolf growled, his tail straight out. 

The terrier hopped down with some difficulty and trotted over to Mira. “It’s alright. We have a few hours yet.” He nudged her leg with his nose. “Do you have a name, young lady?” 

“Mirangeliz. Cuerva.” 

“My name is Georgie. Don’t mind Leannie, she’s a worrywart.” 

“Just get her out of here!” Leannie begged. Something was off about her, but Mira couldn’t put her finger on it. 

“What’s going on?” Mira asked with some hesitation. 

The animals all exchanged glances, either unable or unwilling to explain. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer. 

Georgie spoke up again. “Are you hungry?” 

Her stomach growled in response. She nodded. She was denied dinner, and school probably started already, so she missed breakfast, too. 

“We might have something in the kitchen.” The old dog led her to the kitchen, brightly lit from working light bulbs. Even though the mansion looked like crap, everything inside seemed to work fine. Talking animals, magic barriers, working light bulbs? What next, some kind of sorcerer? She wondered how all of that went unnoticed in the outside world. _A lot of things went unnoticed,_ she thought. She shook the particularly painful memories away. 

Georgie stood on his back legs and pawed the fridge with his single front leg. “There might be something in the freezer. We don’t usually cook.” He chuckled, and she figured it was an inside joke. 

“Who does?” Mira asked tentatively. The oven and microwave both had working clocks, so someone must use the kitchen once in a while. The time read just past eight AM. _How is it so late?_ she wondered. 

“We’re hoping you’ll never find out.” 

The statement sent chills up her spine. She tugged her jacket tighter around herself and opened what she thought was the freezer. She didn’t expect cold air to fly in her face. Inside, ice particles piled up from disuse. She swiped some away and pulled out a bag of frozen vegetables. Whoever kept the mansion running sure had a healthier lifestyle than she did. She looked down at her stomach, which jutted out a lot more than the girls that helped make her life a living hell, and sighed. She put the bag back and dug around to find something quicker. If she didn’t have much time, she didn’t want to squander any of it. She managed to find a single hot pocket of an unknown variety. The frostbite probably stole most of its flavor, but at least she would have food in her stomach. 

Georgie had gone back to the living room by the time she microwaved the thing. Soon after, they started arguing. She couldn't help listening in to their entire conversation. 


	2. curse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it's the end of January and I am satisfied with the number of hits. Thank you all for the support! This should be a weekly thing. See you next Monday!

“She’ll be back soon,” Leannie said, fear in her voice. 

“What the hell were you thinking?” the boar said. He sounded like an angry dad, the kind Mira wished she didn’t have. 

The wolf tried to speak. “I knew her from school, I didn’t think—”

“That’s right, you didn’t.” 

“Calm down, you two,” the cat said. 

“Maybe if we hide her, she can live with us for a while?” the wolf asked. 

“Out of the question!” the boar roared. 

“Okay, a month, then!” 

All of a sudden, Georgie barked and ran out of the living room, scaring Mira half to death from her spot around the corner. He scampered to the front door and barked some more, but quieted down soon after. “False alarm,” he said to her as he passed by. 

No sooner than he did that, Mira heard rustling of plastic from behind her. She turned, expecting to see another animal, but found a grown woman instead, leaning against the far counter, casually munching on some crackers. She had blonde hair and was paler than anyone she had ever known. Her jet-black irises pierced Mira’s soul. Despite her demeanor, the woman made every hair on Mira’s body stand on end. The flowing dark clothes did not help that one bit. She appeared confused, but her expression morphed into an amused sneer. In a blink, she crossed the large kitchen and snatched Mira by the ear. She cried out as she was dragged to the living room. 

When they got there, every animal froze in place. 

“Who’s responsible for this?” Mira tried to free herself, but the woman held fast. “Tell me and I will knock a year off your sentence.” 

Leannie spoke up immediately. “Jay did it!” She crouched behind the couch afterward. 

The wolf snarled at her. “Leannie!” 

“Little wolf, little wolf. One more year for you.” The woman waved her free hand from Leannie to Jay, and he winced. 

“Fucking traitor,” he said. 

Leannie said nothing. 

Mira struggled, digging her nails into the woman’s bare arm, but her skin was like steel. All that fighting accomplished was a tighter grip, and intense pain that made her wince. 

“I consider trespassing a minor offense,” the woman said to Mira. “So I’ll let you plead your case. Why are you here?” 

Mira started to cry. Her ear hurt and she started to feel nauseous from stress. She ran away from home the night before, got attacked by a wolf hours later, and the moment she started to feel safe, she felt more unwelcome than ever. It was nothing like the past year of hell she went through, but it came close. All her pain for a misunderstanding bordering on criminal behavior. Everything came crashing down, overwhelming her so that she couldn’t speak clearly over her sobbing. 

The woman sighed and let go, grabbing Mira’s arm instead. “Stop that crying.” 

“I’m sorry,” Mira managed to say through labored breaths. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” 

The woman threw her down, her heavy backpack making her lose balance and fall on her side. 

As soon as Mira hit the ground, Jay stood over her protectively. Surprised, she twisted to see, hoping the square-off wouldn’t turn into a full fledged fight. 

“Cute,” the woman remarked. Her eyes darted from wolf to girl a few times, then she laughed. “Perhaps I won’t turn her into a skunk right away.” 

Jay breathed heavily, low growls forming in his throat. 

Mira then realized she knew exactly who he was. It all made sense; the nickname, the voice, the French, and the familiarity he showed her since the beginning. Her breath shuddered at the memories. She wanted to run again, but the mysterious woman seemed more dangerous than the wolf boy protecting her. 

The woman smiled, but dropped it as soon as she noticed Mira staring. “You’ve convinced me.” She crossed her arms. “She’ll work this mansion top to bottom in exchange for room and board.” She turned her attention to Mira. “The barrier is open from sunset to sunrise. However, you are to stay inside it at all times if you want to keep your end of this little bargain. Tell the truth, and you’ll keep your human form. But if you dare lie, you’ll regret it.” 

Mira struggled to swallow against her dry throat. “Okay,” she said weakly. She was terrified to think about what telling the truth meant. If she was lucky, she would avoid it at all costs. But if she wasn’t… She shook her head to keep her imagination from taking over. 

“Good.” She addressed the others. “I’m going to rest. Don’t forget that you’re here for your own good; to repent for your sins. I love you all dearly. Surely you must know this is the truth.” She sighed wistfully. “I will see you again at noon.” She turned and walked out of the living room and up the stairs. A door closed in the distance and the animals let out a breath. 

“Leannie, what was that about?” Georgie said bitterly. 

Leannie stamped all four feet like a child. “I’m so sick of it here! I hate it!” she whined. 

“That is no excuse,” the snake said, pausing every other word. “She’s innocent, unlike you.” 

“Oh, shut up!” She ran out of the room blubbering something incoherently. 

Jay turned around and faced Mira, lowering his head to her level. “Are you okay?” 

She scrambled away, keeping her eyes on him. “Jayvon Molineaux?” she whispered. 

Jay turned his head to the side, almost guiltily, she thought. “So you figured it out?” 

“Yeah,” she said quietly. With more confidence, she cried, “Get away from me!” 

He did, but not without growling, “Is that what I get for protecting you?” 

Just when Mira thought she was calming down, she got to her feet and pointed a finger at him. “You-you lied to me!” 

“How the fuck did I lie?” 

“You!” She stopped, remembering the past twelve hours. He didn’t say anything incorrect, but he also didn’t reveal himself. “Lying by omission!” 

“I can’t help that!” 

“None of us can,” the cat said from the couch. Mira looked to see him licking himself. “Part of our punishment.” 

“Still!” Mira said. She pointed at Jay again. “What did you do, rob her?” 

His back curled, his tail sticking out. “Oh, really? Is every black guy some kind of criminal to you?” 

She clenched her fists, her temper flaring. “I didn’t mean it like that, and you know it! But you must have done something! I wouldn’t put it past you!” 

“Come on, Mira, you’re just mad because I picked on you a little in fifth grade,” he snarled. 

“Picked on me?” Mira shrieked. “You _tormented_ me! You made everyone else in our class do it, too! That was the worst year of my life!” 

Jay’s eyes shifted to Mira’s hand, which had sprouted a tuft of black fur without her noticing. 

She screamed at the sight. “Wh-wha-what is this?” She furiously rubbed at it, but it wouldn’t go away. She pulled and found it firmly attached to her arm, like it was her own hair. The pain was real. Transformation magic was real. That woman did something to her, and it felt like the end of the world. 

“You told a lie, and now you’re being punished,” the cat piped up again, casually licking his paw. “Just admit your lie and you’ll go back to normal. Easy peasy.” 

Mira looked around at all of the animals, who nodded their heads in agreement, Jay included. With a shaky breath, she corrected herself. 

“It was the second worst year of my life.” The fur disappeared as soon as the words left her mouth, becoming part of her normal arm. She had never been more grateful to see her dark brown baby hairs. She was terrified of it getting worse, so she continued. “This past year was the worst. That’s why I ran away.” She hugged herself, digging her fingertips in tight every few seconds. An awkward silence filled the room, and that made it worse. 

“I’m sorry, Mira,” Jay said quietly. “For that year. I liked you and I didn’t know how to say it.” 

Mira laughed without an ounce of humor. “Fuck you. Everyone knows that’s just a way of telling girls to shut up when they’re getting bullied.” She nursed those old wounds for so long, it felt natural to blame him for all of her problems since. 

“Excuses, excuses,” the boar said. He roughly nudged Mira as he passed her. He must have been a couple hundred pounds, because he nearly knocked her over. 

Jay laid down in front of her, his snout resting on his paws. “I just can’t believe the whole class joined in.” 

Mira scoffed. “Believe it. I begged my mom to change schools for months. She told me to get over it. I hated her for it. I hated you. I hated everyone.” She hugged her knees, the truth spilling out on its own. “I even hated myself for being so weak. Still do.” She buried her face in her arms. She didn’t want to, but the fear of the fur coming back fueled the word vomit. “I was so glad when that year was over. The divorce granted my wish. Then my step-dad…” She had to stop. Last night’s memories came back, making her eyes water again. 

“Where’s your real dad?” 

She swallowed and cleared her throat. “He moved to Florida. Last I heard, he got married and his new wife is pregnant. He texted me the other day and… he wants me to visit.” She knew he wanted her to move there, but she didn’t want to think about it. If she was bullied in one place, then she would be bullied elsewhere. Everywhere would be the same. It would be fate. 

“That’s a good thing, right?” 

She lifted her face to see that Jay had moved closer. His large paws were near her feet. She shrugged, avoiding his eyes. She couldn’t believe she was opening up to her former bully. It almost felt worse than being cursed to turn into a skunk. 

“I think it is,” the snake said. 

Mira completely forgot they had an audience, flushing hot at the realization. The cat, the snake, and Georgie stared at the two teenagers. The rabbit slept soundly on the couch. 

“How so?” Mira asked the snake. 

“I think it means... he wants to establish... a connection,” the snake said. Mira couldn’t tell if it was a boy or girl, so she resorted to “they.” “I know because... I’ve been there.” At that, they slithered away. 

The cat curled next to the rabbit and fell asleep, ignoring the world around them. 

Mira wished she could do the same.


	3. cat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a cat's tale.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry i'm late. I had a long work week.

At noon, the woman called everyone down again. 

“I shall visit again in a month. Behave while I’m gone.” She eyed Mira with a smirk. “My name is Elizabeth, by the way. Do your due diligence, Mira, and I won’t punish you like the rest. Good luck, and try not to lie.” Elizabeth vanished in a wisp of black smoke that escaped under the door. 

Mira’s stomach did backflips, helplessly confirming the existence of magic in the real world. Maybe it was a dream and she would wake up soon. She subtly pinched herself, but no such luck. She was awake and trapped, and most definitely cursed. With a racing heart, she wondered when her usual safety net of lies would do her in, and she would turn into a skunk for good. 

The boar spoke to Mira, making her jump. “She already stinks. Show her to the bathroom already.” 

She gritted her teeth. She knew him less than a day and already disliked him. Him and about half of the residents actually seemed reasonable. Those weren’t great odds. If she was going to live there for a while, she would have to force herself to get along with them. She groaned at the thought of doing the same with Leannie. She was going to be the hardest. _She was such a brat_ , Mira thought. 

“Come on,” Jay said. He led her through the first floor, stopping at the nondescript bathroom. 

She opened the door to a simple setup. Toilet, shower, sink. There was no bathtub, but that was okay. She wasn’t a bath type of person. She turned to Jay to thank him, but he was gone.

* * *

She spent way too much time in the shower. She needed to make sure every tear had been shed under the cover of running water. She was temporarily free of her old life, but it was like jumping from the pot and into the fire. She wasn’t sure which was worse, the witch or her step-dad. At the moment, neither were around, so at least she would have some time away from them. Although, she thought, maybe everything was a dream, and she would wake up in her own bed like the last twenty-four hours never happened. 

She was met outside by the cat and the snake, who led her to the room that would be hers. They didn’t say much besides “this way” and “you start tomorrow first thing.” Then they left her to figure out the rest on her own. The stairs creaked at every step, but thankfully, her room wasn’t far from the upstairs bathroom. That would make it easy to go back and forth at night, at least. 

Her bed smelled musty, the closet was a wardrobe with a missing door, and the window was filthy on both sides. She managed to find one outlet, but she didn’t need it. She left her phone behind, along with every piece of technology she owned. Back when she had internet, she read somewhere that if you wanted to run away, technology was the worst thing to bring. 

_Not that anyone would miss me_ , she thought. She figured she would miss her old life, but the skunk fur on her hand earlier put everything in perspective. She was in a different world. Even if the wilderness had any signal, she had no use for a phone. 

Despite being early in the evening, she wanted nothing more than to sleep. She tried not to let the smell bother her, but she couldn’t sleep unless she was on her back. 

Everything was new. Everything was strange. And she hated everything. Tears stung her eyes once more, and once she cried them all out, she drifted to sleep, promising herself she wouldn’t cry tomorrow. 

In the blink of an eye, she woke up again. She wasn’t sure what time it was, but it was pitch black outside, save for the dim lights from the mansion’s bedroom lights illuminating the dead grass outside. It was like the house was alone in the universe, with not even a star in sight. How she wished for the moon to bring her some kind of normalcy, or even an accurate measurement of time. 

Her room was on the second floor, but it was too high up to jump down; a lesson learned at age five that was surely not to be forgotten ten years later. 

Mira opened the door to her room carefully, making sure no one was around. She crept through the halls, down the stupid loud stairs, past the living room, and through the front door. The ice cold air hit her face and she shuddered, closing the door again. Maybe she didn’t want to go for a walk, after all. She turned to see a familiar face, silent as the moonless, starless night. 

“What the hell!” she screamed. 

“Where are you going?” Jay asked, his tail swinging slightly. 

“Well, I wanted to go for a walk, but it’s way too cold.” 

He looked her up and down, and she covered herself. 

“Don’t do that!” 

“Sorry, force of habit.” 

“Unbelievable!” 

“Oh my god! I was checking to see if you were lying! I’m not a fucking pervert!” 

Her face flushed with embarrassment. She forgot about that. “I’m sorry,” she said meekly. 

He strode to the door and pawed the handle until it opened. It was almost funny, but his larger-than-average size made her too scared to laugh. 

“Where are _you_ going?” 

“Hunting. One perk about being a wolf is that I don’t have to cook.” He opened his jaws as if to say something else, but he said nothing. He gave her one last, longing look before he left. And like that, he disappeared into the black cover of night. 

She closed the door rounding back to the kitchen. She hadn’t eaten since the hot pocket, and that was her only meal since dinner at her mother’s house. 

Her thoughts drifted to Jay. She hadn’t seen him since eighth grade. She figured he moved, but how did he end up at the mansion? He probably did something bad. She assumed all the other animals were humans, transformed to repent for their sins, or whatever Elizabeth said it was. Leannie and Jay, and maybe the boar, deserved it, that was for sure.

* * *

She couldn’t find anything she liked in the kitchen, but she was tired enough to go back to bed for a while. She ended up staring at the walls for a few hours, sighing with dread as the light outside went from black to gray. 

Someone called her from outside the door. 

“You ready?” he called. 

“Yeah,” she answered, shuffling along. 

She opened the door to the cat, who stared up at her with a peculiar tilt. 

“What?” 

“I recommend better clothes. You’ll be very uncomfortable with the chores around here.” 

She gulped. “How bad are they?” 

“Obviously they themselves won’t kill you, but the mansion is large. Once you finish with one thing, another thing will call for your attention. The cycle will continue until the day ends, and you will not have noticed the time gone by. It will pass quickly if you’re not paying attention. At least, that’s the way it’ll be until you get used to your spell.” 

It all flew over her head, but she tried to be attentive nonetheless. “How will I know when I’m done?” 

The cat seemed to float down the hall, taking quick small steps until he got to the staircase. “When you finish.” 

His vague answer provided no confidence, but she figured the anxiety for making everything perfect was better than nothing. She took his advice and changed into baggier clothes. She figured laundry was included in the chores, so she took a mental note to add her clothes to the load. “Do animals even have laundry?” she muttered. Elizabeth maybe, but she only spent a few hours at the mansion before going out again. 

She found the cat downstairs in the kitchen. “The supplies are in the garage.” 

She hoped there was a car in there. She begged her mother for months to teach her how to drive, and barely got her permit just four months ago. 

“There is no car,” he laughed wryly. “If that’s what you’re wondering.” 

_Damn it,_ she thought. “Why?”

“You have me to blame for that. My attempt to steal it got me into my current mess. Shame I crashed it. You don’t exactly come across fifty-four Pontiac Chieftains every day.” He walked to a door between the pantry and the corner counter and stood on his hind legs, a little too short to reach the handle. He didn’t attempt to jump. “A little help?” 

Mira balked at the honesty. “How old are you?” 

“I’ve been here the longest, so a long time.” 

She opened the door for him. _That didn’t answer my question_ , she thought. 

“Thank you.” 

“How long have you been here?” 

He walked into the garage and pointed a paw to the light switch. “What year is it?” 

“2014.” Mira flipped it on and found a broom and two types of mops, both from eras that outdated her existence. She grimaced at the blackened ropes of the older one and chose the sponge mop that looked like it hadn’t been used in years. The stick of the broom next to it was caked with grime, and its bristles were ensnared with ancient hair and dust bunnies. She took that, too. 

“Wow,” he chuckled. “Time flies. I’ve been here since 1948.” 

“What!” Mira shrieked, nearly dropping both broom and mop. “B–how?” 

“We all have a sentence. It gets longer when you sin as an animal. As you saw last night with Jay, it happens more than you’d think.” 

Mira suddenly wanted to be anywhere but in the presence of the cat. “But you only took a car. How have you been here so long?” 

“Let’s just say I can’t stop my curiosity. For instance, I’ve entered the witch’s room more times than I can count. It’s the only place that’s forbidden to us, even to such an important guy such as myself. The spell we are all under keeps us from dying. We age, but not outwardly.” 

“What about when you turn back human? Will you turn into your real age?” 

“I don’t know. I didn’t exactly pay attention when they explained it to me.” He rubbed against her leg as he passed by. “I’d start cleaning now rather than later. As I said, time certainly flies in this house.” 

He left Mira in the garage, spiraling in her thoughts. As she gathered an ancient dustpan, a bucket, some soap, and some dry rags, she imagined herself living forever in the mansion as a skunk. On one hand, she would never go home. On the other, she would stink for the rest of her life. That would suck. 

_Still_ , she decided, _it’s better than my step-dad_.


	4. snake

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time sure flies in this house. I almost forgot to update today. Discussion of racism and lgbt discrimination ahead.

She jumped straight into her work, dusting everything first. She managed to find some discolored cleaning fluid under the kitchen sink, dampening a rag with it, and started wiping down the living room first, then the kitchen, then the foyer. The staircase handrails were particularly disgusting. Some of the walls needed it, but she focused on horizontal surfaces first. The vertical ones would be next. Walls, shelves, molding, etc. 

When all of that was finished, she set to work sweeping. She started on the second floor hallways, swiping every step on the way down. Once she got to the ground floor, she made tidy piles in every major section. One in the foyer and one in the kitchen. Since the living room had carpet, she would hunt down a vacuum later. The dustpan was total crap, and finishing up was not without frustration. 

Mopping was the same. She did her best with mixing the cleaning chemicals in the bucket, but it wasn’t a very strong fluid. She mopped anyway. The grime was so thick in some places, so she vowed to go back with a brush later. 

Cleaning became therapeutic for her over the course of the day. Time was going by normally. That cat didn’t know what he was talking about. She got three rooms nearly done in no time at all. She didn’t notice her hunger pangs until someone literally tackled her down after she put the supplies back into the garage. 

“Mira!” Jay yelled from on top of her. 

“Oh my god, what!” she yelled back, angry she was interrupted, but terrified once she realized where she was. He was heavy enough with one paw on her shoulder, pressing her into the kitchen’s linoleum. 

“We’ve been calling you for hours!” 

She searched his expression for some kind of lie or joke, but found none. She didn’t know how or if wolves emoted on their faces. All she knew was that she was suddenly very hungry. Not the hungriest she’d ever been, but pretty close. 

“Are you here with us?” the snake said from beside her head. “You’ve been unresponsive for a while.” 

“What time is it?” Mira asked. 

“Almost five,” Jay said, backing away to let her stand up. 

Her jaw dropped. “No, that’s impossible, I only cleaned three rooms!” Had it really been eight hours since she started? 

The cat’s words echoed in her head. _Time flies in this house._

She shivered at their truth. 

“You must be very hungry,” the snake said. It slithered past her feet and to the fridge. They wrapped their body around the handle and pressed against the opposite handle, using the leverage to open the door by themselves. The inside revealed the same frostbitten frozen food from the day before. 

Mira held out her hand so the snake could slither onto it. They did, and Mira giggled at how ticklish their tongue made her. 

“What should I call you,” she wondered aloud. She suddenly felt awkward asking, but the snake answered right away. 

They lifted their head and neck like a scope. “Call me D.” 

“Nice to meet you, D,” Mira said, softly stroking their head. 

D leaned up to meet her finger each time. She always wanted a pet, but never considered a snake to be a possibility. They were oddly cute. She thought they were a coral snake because of the colors, but D seemed totally docile. 

D crawled up her arm and made her shoulder a sort of perch. They were small enough to carry around, but a little heavy after a few seconds. She didn’t mind much. “Kindly hurry. I’m freezing.” 

“Sorry,” she mumbled. She searched the freezer for something that wasn’t a hot pocket, and found a TV steak dinner. She wasn’t a huge fan of steak, but she still wanted to avoid the frozen vegetables. She wasn’t sure how to cook them, and soreness from hours of constant cleaning was starting to set in. She wanted to do as little as possible for food. 

As she prepared the dinner, she asked what D’s deal was. 

“Oh, I’m no one special.” They curled around the back of Mira’s neck to her other shoulder. She leaned her head forward slightly to help them along. 

“How long have you been here?” she asked. 

“Since 1997.” 

“What happened?” 

D did not reply. 

“Sorry if that was rude.” She leaned on the counter with her elbows, resting her head on one. 

“No, it’s nothing. I was getting old before this happened. It just takes me a while sometimes.” 

“How old are you?” 

“You said this year is 2014?” 

“Mm-hm.” 

“I am turning eighty this year.” 

“Wow,” Mira said under her breath. Her late abuela was the only person she knew who was older. She was too scared to ask the cat his age. “You don’t sound like it.” 

“It’s the snake in me.” They paused. “Mira, if you’re wondering why I’m here, it’s because of my ignorance.” 

Her face warmed slightly at being caught, but before she could respond, the microwave dinged. She pulled the food out, and the room immediately filled with strong flavors. It wasn’t very pleasant, but she was too hungry to care. She managed to find a fork in a drawer and sat down at the round breakfast table. She brushed away some mysterious crumbs before placing her plate on it. 

“I think if your ignorance got you in here, then you shouldn’t be punished for it.” 

“You misunderstand, child,” they corrected. “I do not wish to speak of myself back then.” 

From behind her, Jay filled her in. “They mean that they were a racist scumbag.” She jumped, forgetting he was there. He huffed, pacing the kitchen. “Shoulda been here when I first arrived. I was human at first too, but once they saw me, let’s just say shit hit the fan real quick.” He scoffed. 

Mira blinked, her nausea returning. Seeing confederate flags on the outskirts of town always made her uncomfortable, but to be in the company of one who actually stood behind them was a new feeling altogether. She was confused. She thought D was a nice person. But the revelation of their past made her feel something like regret. She wasn’t sure. She forced down a piece of dry, artificially-flavored meat. 

“Despite his attitude, Jay has brought a new perspective to my life,” D said. 

She could have sworn his wolf voice chuckled. “I still don’t like what you said back then.” 

D did not respond to his comment. “I thought I was immune to hatred because I’m different. These scales have taught me otherwise.” 

“How were you different?” Mira forced out. 

“There was no word I knew of before I turned, but I am neither male nor female.” 

She struggled to remember the word. “Like non-binary?” 

“Is that what the kids call it nowadays?” They crawled down her arm carefully and settled themselves on the table near her hand. “You can say I was turned quickly because of my denial. I don’t doubt myself anymore, but as you can see, it’s too late for me.” 

After a moment, Mira put her fork down, finished with her meal. “It’s never too late, I think.” She believed it to be true for others, and she was surprised she didn’t break out into fur because she didn’t apply it to herself. 

Jay huffed again, laying down in front of the stove to watch them talk. 

D hissed with gentle laughter, letting a moment pass between them. “I’m content now. If I die a snake, I die a snake. If I die myself, then I die myself. It does not matter to me now. Who knows? Maybe a hawk will decide my fate for me.” They scoped their head up and stared out the dark window. “For all I’ve done, the hawk is holier than I.” At that, they slowly slithered down the nearest chair and out of the kitchen. 

Mira sat for a moment, considering their answers. Jay walked up to her and nuzzled her arm. 

“You okay?” he asked. 

“I feel sorry for them,” she said. She raised her hand to pat his head, but hesitated, deciding not to. 

He tilted his head. “Why?” 

“It must be so sad, living all that time like that, just to be hopeless at the end.” She turned to him. “Am I making sense?” 

He thought for a few seconds. “Kinda. To be honest, when I first met them, I thought they were a crotchety old man that needed a good lesson beat into him.” 

Mira gulped. “What changed? You guys seem better now.” 

“Better is certainly a word for it. It didn’t happen overnight, that’s for sure. Over time, they stopped calling me names, so I stopped calling them a man. To us, I guess it was that simple.” 

Mira wished the normal world was like that. Movies taught her that kind of stuff was over. The internet taught her that real life didn’t fix that kind of stuff like Hollywood did. 

“I’m sorry,” she said. 

“For what?” 

“I don’t know.” She shrugged awkwardly. “All that stuff you went through.” 

He scoffed. “Don’t apologize. Just don’t let it happen around you.” He turned to walk away. “Besides, I don’t speak for everyone. I’m not your personal spokesperson.” 

Anger flared, but she couldn’t hide it. “I didn’t mean it like that!”

“No. No one ever does.” 

And at that, he was gone, too. She crossed her arms and sulked over the table. She knew he didn’t speak for every black person. _He purposefully misunderstood me!_ She scoffed, cleaning up after herself. Who cares what he thought! She surely didn’t.


	5. rabbit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the truth can't be avoided forever

Mira and Jay hardly spoke for days after their talk with D. She could barely stay away from her chores, strategically drifting from room to room doing the same things every day. Like yesterday, it seemed the foyer needed sweeping and mopping once again. The predators left nightly, tracking in mud for her to clean every morning. It was as if she did nothing at all the previous day. Thus, it became the first thing she did when she woke up. 

By the end of her seventh day, she had finished every room except the witch’s. She was far too terrified to go in. Not even her trances allowed her to step foot in there. 

Despite her fears, most of the others welcomed her inside, as long as she didn’t disturb personal effects too much; if they had any  _ to _ disturb, anyway. Leannie and the cat for instance, clung onto their pasts, and were very protective over the few items they still had. 

When Mira came into Leannie’s room, the deer refused to leave and watched every move the young girl made. It wasn’t too uncomfortable to be glared at, since she was used to it back home. They never spoke, and that was fine with the both of them. 

Mira could only take so many days of chores before she felt exhausted. One morning, she could not tell when, she didn’t leave her bed until well after her usual time. Several people checked on her, but she only opened the door to use the bathroom. She could not ignore her hunger for very long though, and ventured down to the kitchen. 

No sooner than she sat down to eat a meal she prepared the night before, Marie joined her. She hopped lazily onto the ratty chair next to Mira and curled up, taking up the whole cushion. She was a large rabbit. Much too big to hold or carry. If Mira had her phone, she could look up the species easily. She wanted to believe it was the biggest species in America. 

“Would you mind terribly if I joined you?” Marie asked. 

Mira shook her head. “Not at all.” She scooped some steamed peas into her hand and held it in front of Marie. “They have butter.” 

“Thank you.” She happily ate them up. Mira wondered if she would be like that if she fully turned into a skunk. On one hand, the idea of losing her humanity felt like the end of the world. On the other, she wanted to succumb to the curse, never go back home, and live forever as an animal for her sins. Either way, going back home was not an option. She refused to let it be one. Even if she was homeless, it would still be better than living with her mother and stepfather. She tried not to think about doing sex work. She couldn’t imagine being touched by anyone after what happened that night. She shook her head to clear the thoughts. She had to keep them bottled up. No one needed to know. She would die before telling anyone, especially her family. 

They sat in silence until Marie pawed Mira’s arm. “It’s thicker today.” 

Mira inspected her arm, and sure enough, the hair on her arm was thicker than usual. Panic rose in her chest. 

“Is there something you wish to talk about?” Marie asked, tilting her head. 

Mira gulped, then shoved the rest of the reheated vegetables into her mouth, burning her tongue. The longer she stayed silent, the thicker the fur felt. She didn’t want to go home. Fear turned into anger. Anger into hatred. She hated her room, her school, her mother and stepfather, her real father for leaving her behind— 

She slammed her bowl down with a harsh clunk, the fork flying off somewhere to the side. New fur expanded to her hands. She saw it creep closer to her fingertips, one follicle at a time, almost like a time lapse. With trembling hands, she spoke up. 

“The longer I’m away from my mom’s house, the more I don’t want to go back.” The fur stopped, but did not go away. “I’m not happier like I thought, but I don’t feel like I’m walking on eggshells anymore.” She blinked, but the fur stayed. Her lying, lying tears clouded her vision. “Why isn’t this working?” 

“Omittance of the truth is a sinister form of lying,” Marie said calmly. “I don’t think you can afford to hide the truth for much longer.”

Mira struggled to control her breathing. Share the truth she felt in that moment?  _ Is she crazy?  _ Mira thought. 

“Would you feel more comfortable if I shared as well? Perhaps it would make you feel better.” 

Mira rubbed new tears away. “I’m–you don’t have to.” 

Marie hauled herself onto the table with a grunt. “I insist. I refuse to live with a skunk.” 

“Gee, thanks.” The anger didn’t go away, but at least it didn’t get any worse. 

Marie settled herself like a sphinx in front of Mira’s empty bowl. “Did you know I almost became Miss Montana?” 

Mira’s jaw dropped. “What–how did you get  _ here _ ?” 

The rabbit scratched herself behind the ears before speaking again. “My grandmother was born, raised, and ultimately died a few towns away. I went to her funeral and crossed the witch on a backroad. I got lost and we crashed into each other.” 

“Do you want more years added to your sentence?” Drake said from behind Mira. 

She jumped, too engrossed in Marie’s story to hear his hoofsteps. 

“Is it too much to ask to live forever?” Marie said. 

“Despicable wench,” he muttered as he trotted off. 

“What part of that was a lie?” Mira asked. 

Marie chuckled. “Who knows? I’ve always had trouble remembering things exactly, my youth wasn’t exactly pure. So I give fault to both sides. It sounds like the truth, so I’m able to speak it.” She wiggled her head, her ears flopping side to side. “In any case, I was lured here with the promise of a phone, and now I’m a Rex. Your turn.” 

Before she knew it, the fur on Mira’s arms grew towards her face, slower than before, but still noticeable. Against all of her instincts, she told the truth. 

“My mom started dating my step-dad 2 years ago. She married him a year later. I always knew she was a narcissist, but the way he spoiled her made it so much worse. She spent more time with him than me. I had to make a fuss just to get a ‘happy birthday’ from her. I was only able to get a phone for my birthday because she didn’t want me to snitch on her. If I locked it, she would punish me. I hated it because I had privacy, but I could never really  _ have  _ it. You know?” 

“I do.” Something in Marie’s voice made her sound almost melancholy, but still musical, like she was telling it for the hundredth time. It felt much different than her usual sarcasm. “I had a phone by the time I was ten. Let’s just say my parents were very, very involved in my life. I had no concept of a private life. That is, until my friends abandoned me for one reason or another. I had to figure everything out through Facebook. The very day my grandmother died. Turns out that they were fine with my job, but my mother made everything unbearable. She controlled every aspect of my life without my consent, and I wasn’t even aware of it until I turned eighteen, for God’s sake. It’s been a while, but I don’t miss that life anymore.” 

Mira frowned, trying to figure out how old Marie was. “When did you get here? How old are you?” 

She giggled. “Do you want to guess?” 

Mira shook her head, her anger almost completely dissipated. “I’m bad at guessing.”

“You’re no fun. Anyway, I think I arrived just after your friend did. I still remember his human form: tall, gangly, and very angry at Leannie. I recall a lot of grumbling about the chores. I fully turned long before he did. The cat told me about the longevity it provided, and the rest was history. Warped as it is.” Then she chuckled, as if she were laughing at some inside joke. 

Mira didn’t know what to say to that. The way she said “warped history” made her think the rabbit was omitting something.  _ Maybe if Marie was able to hide it, then it wasn’t relevant at all? _ she thought. It gave her a glimmer of hope. 

She looked at her arms again, which had thankfully gone back to their normal dark brown, with various black strands that she always pulled at while she was failing English class. She didn’t want to share anything else with the vain rabbit and her tales, so she stood up. 

“I’m gonna go.” She cleared the dishes and set to work on the foyer. 

“For what it’s worth,” Marie said, “blood relatives aren’t really that great. You’re better off with no family than forcing yourself to live with a shitty one.”

Mira stopped and turned around. “I know that already. That’s why I ran away.” Her voice came out more sarcastic than she liked, so she simply walked away. 

“Twenty-two,” Marie said as Mira left. 

Mira turned, tilting her head in confusion. 

“I’m twenty-two,” Marie repeated. She looked up with her beady eyes. “I honestly never thought I’d get this far.” 

Mira wished she didn’t understand what she meant.


	6. boar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> they just keep getting worse

As Mira swept the floor, she remembered she forgot the mop in the garage. She went to get it, nearly bumping into Drake. He had a piece of paper in his mouth with her name on it in big, blocky letters. 

“What’s this?” she asked him. There were a few drops of drool on it, but she wasn’t grossed out enough to not accept it. _I’ve been through worse,_ she thought, remembering the night Jay jumped her in the woods. She almost rubbed her face to wipe it off out of instinct. 

“A note from the witch,” he answered gruffly. 

“Who else?” she said to herself. She chose not to question how it got into Drake’s possession. He didn’t leave, so she opened it. 

_Dear Mirangelis,_

_Surely you’ve stopped crying by now and done your due diligence. Keep it up. You have 13 days until my next visit._

_~Elizabeth_

“That’s it?” Mira wondered aloud. She flipped it over a few times, just to be sure. “And only thirteen?” She could have sworn she was only there a week and a half. “What━”

But Drake was long gone. She blew a raspberry and folded the note into her pocket. _No use asking questions into the air._ She thought it was rude to leave, but figured it would have been just as rude to stare at her reading a private letter. _Maybe he isn’t so bad after all. Just mean._

She finished mopping the kitchen and foyer, and realized she hadn’t even been outside yet during the day. She had never cleaned the outside of a house before, never mind one so huge as the mansion. She hoped for a hose and a really long brush, like the one she saw in a late night commercial once. 

She wanted to ask for help, but she was the only one in the house with opposable thumbs. She begrudgingly went back to the garage to search for what she needed. At first, she thought she would leave the job half finished, but then eyed two tall mops on the wall. She almost sang with relief. She took them down, but they were too long to carry through the house. She tried the garage door instead. To her dismay, there wasn’t a button to open it anywhere. 

“Aw man, what?” 

Eventually, she figured out that it had to be opened by hand. She was grateful the bright yellow light reached every wooden corner of the garage. Once she found the lever, it was simple. She flipped it, then used her body weight to shove it open. As she expected, the outside air was frigid. It nipped her nose and cheeks, but she was fine otherwise. Her medium weight jacket was enough. 

“Let’s get this over with.” 

She didn’t have to go far to find the hose. It wasn’t cold enough to freeze the water inside, but she felt it was pretty close. Regardless, she took care not to get more than her gloves wet. 

Despite the mansion being old as hell, the mop was fairly modern. Newer than the old mop she’d been using the past few weeks, anyway. It hooked up to the hose without a problem, and she was able to adjust it from ten feet to twenty pretty easily. The longer she worked scrubbing the aluminum siding, the more confident she became. The gross grayish brown around the garage door turned out to be a cute sort of pearl. Even in overcast, it sparkled. 

“Maybe that’s because it’s still wet.” She chuckled to herself. 

She rounded the corner and finished the whole front of the house before nightfall, so she stood back to admire her work. The mop could only go just above the windows on the second floor, but past that was brick anyway, so she considered it done. The constant cloud cover turned the light a dull orange, but it still complemented the white sheen of the newly clean mansion. She nodded and compacted the mop for storage. She would continue the other walls of the house tomorrow. 

After she made sure everything was put away, she was surprised to come back to a full kitchen. The animals huddled in a circle in the middle, making it difficult for Mira to pass. Why they decided to meet in the kitchen was beyond her. The sight of three large animals and a handful of small ones crammed into the small kitchen made her want to leave immediately. They paid her no mind as she squeezed behind Drake. He inadvertently blocked the only way to the doorway, and her attempt at making it her life’s goal to avoid him was failing, as usual. He was never not in his room when she attempted to clean it, and he gave her the same treatment Leannie did; staredowns and everything. It was somehow worse than Leannie, because he would criticize every move she made. 

Mira was only half listening when she heard Drake mention the witch. 

“Do you think the witch will force the change?” he asked. He sounded concerned. It was out of character for him. 

“Who knows?” The cat stretched as he spoke. “You of all people should know what she’s capable of. You know her more _intimately_ than we do.” He snickered. “Who’da thought you could have prevented all of this if you had just treated her like the hysterical bitch she is?” 

Mira’s first thought was the witch cuddling with a boar, and tried not to heave. She caught herself, almost overlooking entirely that the cat was bullying Drake. Instead, she imagined a barrel-chested mannequin with the witch. Better, but still disturbing. She couldn’t help but feel a little sympathy for the boar. If what the cat said was correct, that they were intimate, then he would have special treatment. Since he was an animal, she concluded that wasn’t the case. 

“That’s not fair,” Jay said. “You know he’s sensitive about that shit.” The way he defended Drake was almost admirable. Was Drake a jerk? Yes. Did he deserve the accusation? Probably not. Jay was a good person, doing that. For some reason, she felt a sort of pride that he was defending the boar. 

“Listen, I’m just making an observation,” the cat said casually. 

Drake did not respond. 

“Your silence does speak volumes,” D said. 

“Just leave me out of this,” Drake said, turning away and nearly shoving Mira into the door frame. 

“Who stole from his cookie jar?” the cat casually remarked. 

Everyone, including Mira, glared at him. 

He scoffed. “All your cookie jars.” He leapt down, scampering after Drake. Mira doubted the cat would console the boar, so she made an effort to forget about it. She glanced at Jay, who just happened to be looking at her at the same time. The memory of their argument came back to her. What he said, and what she said, weighed on her ever since, and she was starting to believe he was right. She couldn’t forget the anger and disappointment in his voice. They avoided each other, and the longer they did it, the more guilty she felt. She needed to know if he felt the same. She wanted to apologize, but never found the right time. She had to atone somehow, even if she couldn’t use words to do it. Make him food? He was a hunter, so he could get his own food. Maybe clean his room better? He didn’t have very much, and he always cleaned it himself. Brush his fur? She felt her heart leap at the possibility. It would be like grooming. But grooming was an intimate act. She wasn’t a professional hairstylist, so he wouldn’t be a client. She was an amateur at best, and the only reason you’d let an amateur work on your hair would be because you trusted them. Who better to trust than a girlfriend or boyfriend? Her heart reacted once again. She shoved the creeping intrusive thoughts down, the ones that imagined their relationship could be anything big. It wasn’t like she wanted to marry him or anything. Just be a friend! Nothing more. Nope. 

Damn her stupid heart! 

She snapped herself out of her thoughts, turning to power-walk out of the kitchen. 

“Mira,” Jay said suddenly. 

She flinched at his voice calling her name. She hadn’t heard it in so long. If the witch’s note was correct, it had been over a week since their fight. She stopped to turn to the group. 

“Is there something you want to share?” he asked. 

She blinked, then checked her skin for fur, but she was fur-less all around. “Why?” she said. 

“You have stripes in your hair, sweetie,” Marie said. 

Mira’s breath hitched as she ripped her hair band out to shake every curly lock loose. Sure enough, two white stripes had sprouted from her hairline to the tips of her sorta-long hair. She screamed at the sight. The struggle to keep her breaths even was mounting. 

“It’s okay, just calm down.” Jay said evenly, nudging her with his snout. “What’s on your mind?” 

“I–I’m–I just,” she stammered. She glanced at Jay, whose eyes turned slightly puppy-dog, which she didn’t even know wolves could do. Her heart fluttered a little. Her face flushed, and the hair still in front of her eyes became more like a skunk’s, straightening out and shrinking before her eyes. The white stripes got thicker, and her black hair got blacker. She began to panic. She couldn’t tell him the truth. Was she starting to like him? She didn’t want to. He bullied her when they were ten! But he got better. But he never apologized! Yes he did, she just forgot! Her heart beat faster and faster until she couldn’t handle the pressure. 

She ran. 

Her goal was to go literally anywhere else. She wasn’t paying attention to where she was going and bumped into Drake in the back door’s mudroom, tripping over him and landing hard on the filthy shoe rack. It hurt, but she didn’t notice. He turned with a frown, but immediately changed his expression when he saw her. She brushed her hair back and felt two soft ears that were definitely not human almost on top of her head. Her normal ears were gone. She was going full skunk! Her breathing got quicker, turning into hyperventilation. 

“Calm down, girl,” he grunted. 

“I’m–I’m turning–my hair, my _ears!_ ” she cried. She hugged her arms and leaned over on her knees. “Help me!” 

He groaned and opened his mouth wide, leaned over her shoulder, and clamped his jaw down on her hair. Before she could process what the hell he was doing, he yanked her down roughly. 

She yelled in pain. The boar was stronger than she thought, and he could barely lift his head. 

“Ow!” she said angrily. “What was that for?” 

“Come back to your senses yet?” His tone was gruff, but he wasn’t judgemental. 

“I’m mad now, if that’s what you were thinking!” She managed to get back to her feet, despite the throbbing pain on her scalp. She was going to roast him for dinner if he gave her a bald spot. Her hair was her pride and joy. It took two years to get the length it was now, and it was barely past her shoulders. 

“Anger is better to deal with than fear.” He sighed. “What was that all about? Was it the cat? Or the boy?” 

Her eyebrows twitched. “So what if it was!” She crossed her arms at the boar. She held back the truth unconvincingly. 

“If you’re concerned with my judgment, don’t be. I was young once, too. Those feelings will pass eventually. But in order for you to go back to normal, you need to speak your truth. It does nothing if I figure it out for you.” 

She gritted her teeth and groaned, feeling for her ears again. They hadn’t gone back to normal, but the fact they were still there caused her heart to skip when they twitched to avoid her fingers. 

“Spit it out. You don’t have all day.” He sat on his haunches, the universal sign for giving undivided attention. 

After harsh self-consideration, she formed her words carefully, and looked around to make sure it was only the two of them in the room. She gulped and began. 

“It’s stupid,” she said quietly. “I feel guilty for saying something ignorant and racist the other day, and we haven’t spoken much since then. I’ve been meaning to talk to him about it, but I just can’t bring myself to say anything. We barely see each other during the day. He’s always sleeping while I’m cleaning his room, and hunting while I’m free. I tried to figure out his schedule, but I always finish late and miss him completely. I don’t know how to apologize. I’m too scared to get it wrong.” She groaned. “God, I’m such a coward! I wish I wasn’t like this. I just feel so stupid for not doing anything at all.” 

Drake nodded in all the appropriate places, not interrupting as she admitted to her mistakes. He didn’t show his feelings on his face, but maybe boars didn’t emote that way. 

“I guess I’ve just been missing him? I’ve never missed him before. He kind of saved my life the night before he brought me here. He even got in trouble for me. I feel like I owe him for that, too.” 

“Did his confession leave any sort of impression on you?” Drake asked after a beat of silence. 

She had to pause to remember what he was talking about. Jay did mention that he liked her when they were in fifth grade, but he said it past tense, so she assumed he was already over it. There was no way he would harbor feelings for that long. Especially now, since Mira had grown up to be the exact opposite of a model. 

“Boys never really forget their first crush. Not for a long time, anyway.” He chuckled to himself. “You’ll have to ask him yourself if you want his truth. The question now is, what’s _yours_?” 

She squatted and hugged her knees, burying her face in her arms. She breathed in and out for several cycles before answering. “I guess I do have some feelings for him.” 

She heard Drake’s hoofs pitter-patter towards her. “The stronger your truth, the less this curse affects you. Lift your chin and speak with conviction.” 

She rocked back and forth for a bit, processing her feelings now that she had a moment to think. No pressure from the group. No judgmental staring at her public breakdown. She breathed in and out, in and out. Her mind in the moment had jumped to conclusions. Drake provided her a space to be calm and think. Finally, she looked up at him. “I want to be friends with Jayvon.” 

He nodded approvingly, adding a single huff. “Look at that, a normal teenaged girl who wants normal teenaged friends.” 

Mira shakily checked for skunk ears. She found none. She checked her hair. All dark. Not a single white hair to be seen. She was so grateful she could cry. 

So she did. 

She hugged around Drake’s neck as best as she could, sobbing into his hairy neck. She didn’t care that he smelled like mud. He helped her get back to normal. He could have left, but he listened. He gave her advice. He gave her confidence. He proved himself to be a shoulder to lean on, and that was all she wanted. 

She sat back into a cross-legged position. “If I may, what’s your truth?” 

He sighed. “It’s been a while since anyone cared to ask, so I’ll indulge you.” 

Mira bit back a harsh comment. _Gee, I wonder why,_ she thought. 

“I’m Elizabeth’s husband,” he said, shifting his front legs a little. 

Her eyes went wide, her jaw slack. “What?” Her voice came out strange, so she repeated herself in her normal timbre. “What?” 

“We met in 1968, and I knew she was a witch from nearly the beginning. I didn’t mind it. She had only the cat at the time, which was annoying because he never left us alone for very long. I only minded at night.” 

Mira tried not to let the embarrassment show on her face. The image of the mannequin and the witch came up again, but it was easier to block the intrusive thoughts a second time. 

“She used her powers to earn money. I asked about it once, but she never gave any straight answers. We built this mansion, but we lived in the suburbs. We had a decent life. But after five years of the same old shit, I was frustrated with my life. I was a homemaker and couldn’t handle it. So, I found a job at a bakery. It was perfect for me. I was in the kitchen where no one except the boss and one coworker bothered me. The owner hired only women for the registers, for some reason. I was depressed whenever Elizabeth wasn’t around, which was often, so I sought comfort with someone else. I did the despicable thing and let one of my lady friends seduce me. In hindsight, she didn’t have to try very hard. The incident was only with the one woman, but once is enough when it comes to that sort of thing. Elizabeth caught me in my very first lie, called me a pig, and the rest is history.” 

Mira didn’t say anything for a moment. “So you’ve been like this for,” she paused to count, “forty years? For cheating one time?” 

He scraped the old wood floor with his foot. “As I said, once is enough.” 

“But how is that fair?” 

“Wouldn’t you do the same?” 

Mira couldn’t find a reason not to. 

“My curse has no limit, unlike the rest of you. My lie was a special kind of betrayal, and I’ll most likely be a boar for the rest of my life. Or her life. Whichever comes to an end first. Perhaps I’ll be someone’s dinner someday. Or maybe in a few hundred years, the outside world will realize witches are still among us and lynch us all.” 

She hugged her knees. She couldn’t imagine being cursed for that long. 

He sighed. “All that said, I can’t imagine myself anywhere else in the world.” 

After a moment, she asked, “Are you still in love with her?” 

He snorted in response. “She’s the love of my life.” 


	7. dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dreams are nothing but processed memories. They're not real. They can't hurt you.

The next day, Mira set to work on the outside of the mansion again. She started right where she left off, timing herself to combat the quickly passing hours. Scrubbing one long panel from the corner to the line took about two minutes, and there were twelve panels, so finishing that section of the wall should take no more than twenty-five minutes. From the inside, there were two back doors, which meant three sections of panels. The grand total would be a little over an hour. As long as there weren’t any big messes, it shouldn’t take much longer than her estimate! She nodded at her mental accomplishments. 

“Am I doing math?” She laughed at her own distaste for real world math problems. With disgust, she pulled the garage door down and saw grime there, too. She swiped side to side along the grooved pattern and found she could scrub less and clean more all at once. She laughed an evil, triumphant laugh at the now clean door. It took _maybe_ ten minutes to remove every mark. 

She set to work scrubbing, like the day before. The more she cleaned, the more the mansion seemed to sparkle in the sun. It was a rare day of sunshine, and all she wanted to do was take off her parka and soak in the warmth. It was what other girls did, and it looked relaxing. For today however, she had work to do. 

She finished and started the far side of the mansion with almost no trouble. The hose was almost too short, but she managed to do a thorough job. 

As she walked back to the garage side, she wrapped the hose around her arm and hooked it on her forearm. She managed to get it all the way back to the spigot, the mop leaned against the wall and everything, when she slipped in the mud and landed flat on her back, the wind knocked out of her. 

“Ouch,” a familiar, heart-pounding voice said. She looked around for the source and found Jay behind her. Her face flushed with warmth, completely embarrassed that he saw her fall in the mud. At least she was wearing old clothes. But that made it worse! Wearing old clothes covered with mud and falling in front of Jay? Today was not her day. 

“Wait, can you hear me?” he sounded distressed. 

“What?” She was so confused. “Yes? I heard you say ‘ouch.’” Then she remembered her daily trances that kept her focused on chores. “Oh, right.” 

“Please don’t be mad.” 

She got up and brushed off whatever mud she could, and used the hose to rinse her hands. The cool air did her fingers no favors. Laundry would have to be next on her list for the day. She groaned and walked to the garage. 

“Sorry.” 

“For what?” She didn’t have time to talk to him. 

Jay hung his head. “I’ve been narrating you for days.” 

She opened her mouth to speak, but the sudden sensation of butterflies made her tongue tied. She wanted to be mad. She was obligated to be mad. He was making fun of her trances, and not bothering to let her in on the joke. Talking behind her back like that was the worst thing in her mind. Aside from the obvious. However, she didn’t feel mad. She forced a frown. 

“That’s technically stalking,” she squeaked. She never considered herself as the target of stalking before. _It could happen to anyone,_ she figured, _just not to ugly girls like me._ To never be a target was a luxury. She’d heard the creepy stories from her classmates. She was thankful, but the intrusive thoughts always compared never having a stalker to being unattractive. It was hard to fight them off every day. 

“I know, it was stupid, I’ll never do it again.” He took a deep breath. And chuckled in exasperation. “But it was so _easy_.” 

Her brain scrambled to find some sort of emotion to make the situation not feel as shitty as it was, but all she felt was awkward at the idea of defending herself. She finished putting all the cleaning supplies away before answering. “Just because I’m in a trance doesn’t mean you can mock me.” 

He scoffed. “I wasn’t being mean. I was very respectful. Objective. Cold.” 

One thing she figured out about the curse was that none of the animals could lie without some sort of terminal punishment. They were compelled to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth at all times. There was a subtle difference between the truth he spoke before and after she was in the mansion, but she picked up on it with all the anxiety she developed over the years. That said, she had no choice but to believe him. 

“Please say something.” His wolf form whined and his tail stopped wagging. 

Something happened in her chest. Joy, perhaps? Something about the tone of his voice gave her great glee. 

“Why should I?” She reached the back door and took off her boots and parka, leaving the former in the mud room. They were the dirtiest, and therefore needed to be washed first. She could use the hose on the boots, but the parka needed a more delicate touch. 

“Come on, I’m bored during the day! What else should I do with my time?” 

So he didn’t sleep all day every day like she thought. That conclusion didn’t sway her in the slightest. She casually rolled her parka so that the mud was on the inside. “I’ll give you a hint: Not that.” 

“Should I say sorry again?” 

“If you think that would help.” 

He growled. “I’m trying my best here!” 

“Try harder.” She turned her nose up at him and strolled to the laundry room. She figured she would practice that “conviction” thing Drake told her about. She side eyed him a few times to make sure he was following her, but he didn’t take the bait. All of a sudden, she felt bad for trying to manipulate him. 

“I’m sorry, an apology and a vow never to do it again is fine.” 

He muttered something in French, then his wolf form snorted. “Sorry for taking advantage of your curse and narrating you. I won’t do it again.” 

She didn’t want him to never hang out with her, so she amended his promise. “Just don't narrate me without my permission.” 

His tail wagged when she said that. 

She giggled at the sight. _Wolves are just big ol’ puppy dogs after all,_ she thought. 

He craned his neck to see behind him, and the tail stopped. He bowed his head and stepped in place for a bit before saying, “So, do I have permission, or what? It’s hard to find new hobbies around here. Especially when you don’t have hands.” 

She thought about it for a moment. She wanted to dole out a punishment then and there, but she couldn’t think of a good one. She was happy he wasn’t actually avoiding her like she thought when she confessed her truth to Drake yesterday. Letting him follow her would be a way for them to hang out more. Hopefully without some kind of trance. She couldn’t shake the feeling that her next words were going to sound manipulative, just like the girls at school who bragged about having multiple boyfriends at once. She didn’t want to become like them. 

“Well...” 

He bared his teeth, which admittedly creeped her out. “Is that a yes?” His tone was jovial, the exact opposite of his wolfish attempt at a smile. 

“Of course.” 

Jay snickered. 

She internally screamed, immediately regretting her decision. “Just let me know you’re there, okay? I have anxiety! Or just go out, wait no, I mean, o-outside with me? T-tomorrow! I usually start at nine.” _Good going,_ Mira, she thought. _All that stuttering made me look weird!_

He huffed. “Fine.” And he walked back out the door, leaving muddy paw prints behind. 

She sighed, reserving herself to clean that up as soon as she decided what to do about her muddy parka. It was early afternoon, so she resumed her usual chores elsewhere until nightfall.

* * *

Mira woke up a few days later discovering she had gone fully skunk. She got out of bed and realized she was fully transformed. She had no qualms, only calm confidence. No more lies, no more hiding. She was free. Her new life had begun, with no baggage from her past whatsoever. She accepted it with quiet conviction. 

The others congratulated her on her success. 

“Hardly something to be congratulated for,” she countered. “It was inevitable.” 

All the animals were there: the cat, Georgie, her biological father, Marie, and Jayvon. He was the last to give her congratulations. 

“This is a joyous occasion,” he said. 

“Yes,” she agreed. She never felt eye to eye with him until that moment. She looked down and saw that she was a wolf, too. “The curse doesn’t turn you into one animal?” she asked. 

“The animal you transform into is whatever the animal the witch interprets you to be,” Georgie explained. “That animal can change into any animal she wishes on a whim. She is gracious like that.” 

“I see,” she said with a surprising amount of grace in her voice. She faced Jay again, who circled around behind her. They had been cursed for so long, she forgot to count the years. She had wanted him for so long. 

They did wicked things together. Some time passed, perhaps when she closed her eyes, and she realized they were both human again. She didn’t bother searching for answers, and simply reveled in his embrace, fully content to be in his warm, strong arms. This was how things were. Nothing was strange at all. They weren’t even in the same room as before. They moved someplace else. He probably carried her there. She didn’t care to remember when. She felt too damn good to question anything. 

Mira screamed awake, hurtling back into reality. As she sat up in her sweaty sheets, her heart painfully beating out of her chest. She discovered some things as she aimlessly looked around her dark room. 

First, she woke up two minutes before her radio’s alarm. She couldn’t focus on how annoying that was yet. 

Second, she was more than sweaty. She was _wet_. The dream felt so real. In a home filled with animals that had a better sense of smell than she did, she would have to take a shower immediately, then write down her truth. Maybe the journal she found the other day would keep the transformations at bay. 

Third, her feelings for Jay were more intense than she thought. Every passing day, she felt more compelled to be with him, sometimes more than platonically. She never made herself any promises, because not fulfilling them would only exacerbate her situation. For the time being, only Drake knew of her feelings, and she planned on keeping it that way. But then again, they had changed since that day. 

Fourth, Elizabeth was returning in a few hours.


	8. dog

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a dog's life isn't all pats and scritches

Elizabeth seemed to admire the sight before her. Mira noticed her wide smile as soon as she walked into the living room. It was only her second experience with the witch, but she already felt both terrified and an inexplicable amount of hatred towards her. Mira was bothered by how much of a negative reaction swelled in her heart every time the witch looked at her. They were more intense than her feelings for her own mother, and made her chest hurt even more than her dream a few hours ago. She sat next to Marie on the couch, D on the armrest on her other side. Everyone else had been waiting, and that made Mira feel worse. 

“I see you survived one month,” Elizabeth remarked. “Congratulations. I admire your strength.” 

To Mira, it felt like a backhanded compliment. 

“You’ve yet to break Jay’s record, though,” she continued. “He barely lasted two. I have no doubt you will succeed.” 

Jay huffed at her sarcasm. 

“Which is why I’m rewarding you with new food! You must be sick of the old, frozen bags of frostbitten veggies.” She spread her arms wide. “Aren’t I gracious?” 

Mira didn’t know what to say. She wanted to give the witch a piece of her mind, but she didn’t want to turn into a skunk after all the hard work she did to avoid it. 

The witch smirked. “Something on your mind, sweetie?” 

Mira risked a glance at her hands, which sprouted fur. “Yes.” But the fur remained. Her vague answer wasn’t enough. Her mind filled with the worst of words, but she couldn’t afford to hold back. She gulped and paid the price. 

“You’re not gracious. You’re a selfish bitch.” The fur disappeared as soon as she blinked. 

Elizabeth’s expression soured. “I appreciate your quick honesty, but now I feel bad about buying you dessert.” She stood up and stalked towards Mira. Their eyes met, the witch’s gaze boring into the young girl. “I’ll let you have it this time.” She grinned, and it reminded Mira of a spider welcoming its prey, ice cold eyes letting the insect flail for a while before moving in for the kill. 

Mira was certainly flailing. She still wasn’t used to expressing her thoughts so truthfully so often. She wondered if the witch got some sort of fucked up satisfaction from exposing the dishonesty in people so severely. Before all this, she survived on white lies. Most of the time, they saved her from a beating. 

“With that said, I will restock everything for you. You’ve done such a marvelous job cleaning the house, you deserve a day of rest.” 

“Thank you,” Mira said. She meant it. The trances were preventing her from having meaningful, memorable conversations with Jay while they hung out. She could barely hold a train of thought while she cleaned, and he was constantly breaking her trance in the middle of her sentences. She felt bad and apologized constantly. He never accepted them, but it was a compulsion for her. If she didn’t apologize, she was afraid she’d turn into a skunk. She was so afraid he would think less of her. 

Everyone dispersed for a while, but didn’t go very far. Marie, D, and the cat stayed on the couch and napped. Drake followed his wife to the kitchen, probably informing her of everything that happened while she was gone. Georgie sat by the front door, staring out of the window, growling at something invisible. Leannie was the only one who went outside. 

Mira didn’t want to go to her room, so she settled for an awkward spot on top of the staircase, letting her legs drape over the steps as she laid back to stare at the ceiling. Jay curled up next to her head, making her aware of every little thing about him: his slow breathing, his warm emanating from his fur, the way his nails scratched the wood floor when he fidgeted, and even his internal organs’ noises. She almost crept closer to pet him. It was too tempting. 

“Now, if there’s nothing more to report, I must be off earlier than usual,” the witch announced when she finished putting the groceries away. “You know how to contact me.” 

“Farewell,” Drake said. 

She regarded him politely and with a snap of her fingers, she vanished into a wisp of smoke and flowed under the front door. That explained how she got the jump on her a month ago. 

“I thought she’d never leave,” the cat said, stretching and yawning. 

_As if you have better things to do_ , thought Mira. As far as she knew, the cat did nothing at all, except for maybe taking naps and torturing a few mice. 

She allowed herself to close her eyes. She’d been up since seven and felt compelled to go back to bed. She heard Jay’s nails scrape the floor again, coming closer until his snout rested against her. As he laid on her hand, her eyes flew open, fully awake. She craned her neck to see him totally relaxed with a thousand yard stare. 

“You okay?” she asked. 

“Physically, yeah,” he replied matter-of-factly. “My mind’s kind of a mess, though.” 

She didn’t want to force the truth out of him, and chose her words carefully. “Do you want to talk about it?” 

“Not right now.” He breathed deeply, air whooshing against her arm. “I’ll tell you someday.” 

That sounded like a promise. She was wary of them, but her heart fluttered at the possibility of sharing a secret with him. “Okay,” she whispered. 

She wasn’t sure when, but she fell asleep on the floor just like that. Her dreams weren’t embarrassing like the previous night, but they were still random and disturbing. She dreamt the cat was the witch’s husband instead of Drake, and despite the fact he cheated on her, he seemed like a good person. The cat on the other hand, did not. 

She woke up to a tiny, rough tongue licking her cheekbone. She opened her eyes to see the cat standing on top of her, his paws on her chest for balance. 

“Good dreams?” he said with teasing in his voice. “You were muttering something about husbands.” 

Mira’s face flushed hot. “Just weird dreams.” 

He inspected her arms and hair, then went back to four legs. Jay woke up soon after, making the cat snicker. “Pity. I was going to tease you.” 

Jay started growling. “Get off of her, or you’re dinner.” 

The cat leapt off smoothly. “Temper, temper. You know the punishment for that.” 

Jay stopped and scoffed. He got up, leaving Mira cold. 

The cat sneered at Jay. “It’s a wonder your sentence is still so short, after what you did.” 

“Shut up!” Jay barked. “You don’t know anything!” 

“Are you volunteering?” 

Before Jay could answer, Georgie bounded up the stairs and snapped his jaws at the cat. “You’re going to get eaten if you keep that up,” he threatened. 

“Ooh, I’m so scared,” the cat said in a mocking tone, turning away to glide down the stairs. “But fine, I’ll leave you to whatever thing you’re calling this.” He turned to Mira and added, “At least you smell nice.” He hummed some nursery rhyme as he descended. Mira recognized it, but couldn’t remember the words. 

“Don’t let him get to you,” Georgie said, sitting down on the step next to Mira’s feet. “He enjoys riling people up.” 

Jay harrumphed. “I know that.” 

“Why is he like that?” Mira asked. 

“Who knows?” Georgie said. “He’s been like that forever. It’s like he doesn’t want to leave. I don’t get it.” 

She didn’t, either. She wasn’t even sure what his name was, and she was too scared to ask. No one spoke about him much to mention it, either. They always just called him “the cat.” It was almost as if he didn’t have one. 

Georgie tilted his head at them. “Jay, when was the last time you hunted?” 

Jay hesitated. “A couple days ago.” 

“You must eat, then. I can tell you’re worried, but the cat won’t come near as long as I’m here. I’m a dog too, you know.” 

She could see Jay’s shoulders through his fur, tense and ready to attack. “I’m not worried about him.” 

“No, but you are worried about _her_. Now go hunt. Even though I’m missing an arm, I still have my teeth. I can cover for you.” 

To Mira, they were speaking in code. _Why is Jay worried about me? What did the cat have to do with it?_ she thought. 

Jay eased his posture. “Are you sure?” 

“I promise.” He trotted up the rest of the stairs and sat next to Mira. 

Jay looked back and forth between the two of them, and she could almost see the worry on his face. “Okay. I’ll be back soon. I think the barrier just opened.” 

Mira looked at the closest window, and sure enough, it was nighttime. The passage of time always seemed to speed up when she wasn’t paying attention. Her nap was longer than she thought, and it was then that she realized her back hurt from sleeping so long on the hard floor. 

As soon as Jay left, Georgie curled up close to her. “How are you holding up?” he asked. 

“As well as I can be,” she answered. “I found a journal, so that’s been helping with my denial.” 

“Good, good. I think it should help when you’re by yourself.” 

“Has anyone else done it?” 

He paused to think. “I think Jay might have tried it. Leannie, too.” 

Mira chuckled. “I gotta be honest, I can’t imagine Leannie journaling.” 

He laughed. “I know it’s hard to imagine, but she was actually worse than this when she got here. She’s a little nicer now.” 

“When was that, the nineties?” People changed slowly, and she refused to believe the current Leannie was considered “nicer.” 

“She arrived the same night Jay was brought in.” He coughed. “But that’s not my story to tell. Who knows if my retelling would be construed as falsehood?” 

Mira was very surprised to hear they arrived when Jay did. “When was that exactly?” 

He coughed again. “If he hasn’t told you yet, then you should wait. Hearing it from the wolf’s mouth is preferable to his weaker cousin’s, namely me.” 

Mira understood. She remembered how gossip made her feel at school, and decided to wait for Jay to tell her himself. And like hell she was going to ask Leannie. Her eyes roamed to the space where his missing arm was supposed to be, but the fur was completely smooth, like he was born without it. “What happened to your arm?” 

He stayed silent for a moment before answering. “I lost it in Vietnam. I got shot in the arm, waited too long, got gangrene, and zip,” he said. “However, I have to insist that you don’t ask any questions about that. Now that I’m compelled to speak the truth, it takes me to places I never want to go again.” His tone was somber, not angry, but she still felt terrible for asking. 

“I’m sorry.” 

“You didn’t know. The others know, but not everything. Like most people, they stop listening after hearing ‘Vietnam.’” He shifted, resting his snout on his single front paw. 

The off-balance nature of his head made Mira smile. Dogs were always cute to her, no matter how many legs they had. She petted his head and neck, giving his scritches behind his ears. 

“Ah, yes,” he crooned. “Thank you.” 

“No problem.” 

She found herself wondering when Jay would return. She was starting to get worried. She wondered how long it took for him to hunt. It had to be close to nine. 

“Can you distract me?” she asked. 

He sat up. “Why?” 

She brought her knees to her chin. “I’m worried about Jay.” 

“I can tell you why I’m here if you like. It’s not a long story, so I don’t know how much it will distract.” 

“Anything helps,” she said. She considered Georgie a friend. When the others told their stories, they were not at that stage yet. If she could tolerate Marie and have a better relationship with Drake, then she could handle whatever Georgie threw at her. 

“Alright. As you know, I was in Vietnam. Purple Heart recipient, veteran, honorably discharged, and hopelessly single. I used to frequent this bar near the base, and a lot of my buddies got laid there. The first time I went, I met a pregnant woman by the familiar name of Elizabeth.” He spat out her name. “She said she was waiting for her husband, but I didn’t believe her. It was all too common to see pregnant women at the time waiting for their army boyfriends to join them. I’d seen it plenty of times. They’d wait for hours, night after night, but the culture at the base was to fuck and run. I did it a few times too, but I was responsible enough not to knock anyone up. 

“In any case, she ended up throwing her drink on me and storming off. One of my buddies volunteered to teach her a lesson, and I half-jokingly said, ‘Knock yourself out.’ I followed him outside, expecting him to just give her a hard time. He did often enough for it to be funny to me. I didn’t expect him to assault her. He barely laid one hand on her when she tore out his throat with one hand. I was horrified, and when she came for me, I claimed my innocence as a disabled veteran. She said that was no excuse, but instead of killing me, she brought me here. I was fully turned within a week. 

“I was in such denial back then. I couldn’t see that what I did was wrong. What I did to all those women. Making promises to them that I didn’t intend to keep, enabling my friends when they did it, and most egregiously, using my disability to do it. I manipulated so many women, I lost count. Many of them were barely older than you.” 

Mira was in total shock. The story successfully distracted her from Jay’s absence, but she felt sick listening to it. To think people were like that back then. It made her scared not to go to any bars when she got older. 

But all of that was beside the point. Georgie seemed the most noble of all the animals with the way he carried himself. She looked up to him as a caretaker, but after that story, she wasn’t sure what to think. He respected everyone in the mansion and protected her when the cat teased her, or when Drake used to treat her like trash. 

She watched Georgie yawn and stretch, laying on his side with his back against her. She stroked his fuzzy belly gently, just to keep herself awake. She wanted to hate him for what he did, but she couldn’t. Her school always said being a bystander was as bad as being a bully, and she’d been bullied enough to know those posters were right. She found herself in Elizabeth’s shoes from back then. She was defending herself and perceived as weak because she was pregnant, and therefore became a target. Mira was below average height, which made her the butt of short jokes. Her hair was curly beyond control, so it was always a mess in middle school before she taught herself how to tame it. Girls always asked her if she even owned a brush. Then, her parents got divorced. It didn’t help that her mother and step-dad were white, which opened her up to racist jokes and other Hispanic girls calling her a coconut. The only difference between the two of them was—

“Wait, Elizabeth was pregnant?” Mira asked. “Does she and Drake have kids?” 

Georgie rolled away from her to go to his room. “If you’re curious about that, I’m the wrong person to speak to. Such a tragedy.” He said that last sentence so quietly that she could barely hear it. 

Curiosity certainly got the better of her. She stood up and started to follow him, but stopped at his door. “Then, who should I ask?” 

He slowly turned back to her, then his eyes darted behind her. “Why don’t you ask him?” At that, he entered his room. 

Mira turned around. Jay had returned. She didn’t even notice him come up. He had fresh blood around his mouth and along his throat. She dared look at his paws, which looked like he’d been swimming in a mud puddle. All the way up to his knees was caked with the stuff. She was grateful he wasn’t hurt, but she didn’t know what she would have done if she saw that much blood. Not that it bothered her much. Her messy periods made sure of that. It was the life taken that churned her stomach. 

“You’re a mess,” she said aloud by accident. She wanted to slap herself. 

“What else did you expect? I did go fucking hunting.” He sounded mad. She had no idea what she did to deserve that response. 

The guilt immediately dispersed. She crossed her arms and leaned her body weight on one leg. “Just don’t get my floors dirty.” 

“Wouldn’t dream of it, Cinderella.” 

Her blood boiled. “Are you serious right now?” 

“Hey, if you’re so worried about your stupid floors, why don’t you go clean them?” 

She screamed out of frustration. “Is there something you want to tell me?” 

“Not particularly, and definitely not you.” 

“Really?” She framed it as a statement more than a question. 

“I just don’t want to talk about it, okay?” he yelled. 

He shoved past her before she could respond. He went into the bathroom, and the unmistakable sound of the shower’s pipes groaned to life inside. It felt uncouth to interrupt him, so despite her eagerness to clear up the situation, she didn’t move. 

She sulked, stomping down the stairs and slumping onto the sofa. She didn’t feel like talking to anyone else besides Jay, so she stewed in her own rejection for a while. _How dare he treat me like that!_ she thought. Even if she was acting like a little kid, he could have been nicer about it. _Yes_ , she agreed with herself, _he was in the wrong_. 

She lost track of time yet again, and noticed the room turned light blue while she was spaced out. Was it time to get up already? She sighed, silently cursing her perception of time in the mansion. If she collapsed while doing chores, then she collapsed while doing chores.


End file.
